Mounting platforms are generally well-known for securely cradling and even electrically interfacing hand-held pocket-sized personal computers, commonly referred to as “pocket PCs,” bar code scanners, and other substantially mobile electronic devices, such as cellular telephones, mobile global positioning system (GPS) receivers, Personal Digital Accessories (PDAs), handle-held personal computers and the like.
One such mounting platform is presented in U.S. Pat. No. 6,427,959, entitled MOUNTING BRACKET FOR AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE, issued Aug. 6, 2002, to Kalis, et al., which is incorporated herein by reference, which includes a cradle adapted for being releasably secured to the electronic device and also includes a support adapted for being mounted to a surface. The cradle is adapted to move along its longitudinal axis relative to an electrical connector that is slidably connected to the cradle. A user can fix the position of the cradle relative to the mounting surface by means of a pin and locking mechanism on the back of the cradle to the support.
Other mounting platforms are also currently known. However, current mounting platforms may be inefficient for effectively securely releasably cradling larger and irregularly shaped devices. Additionally, current mounting platforms are generally application specific and fail to provide truly universal cradling.